Gianna Pena '25 Recruiting Profile

Hi my name is Gianna Pena. I have been playing volleyball for 4 years. When I first started playing volleyball I didn’t have  any experience other than just playing with my family in the backyard. I was in 7th grade and my middle school unfortunately didn’t have a team but I wanted to try out for a club team regardless.  Before trying out I would go outside and hit the ball against the house, I would try to teach myself how to serve.  With high hopes, I went to the tryout and gave it my all.  I was so happy to receive an offer.  The first season was difficult, I was just learning and worked really hard to improve.  The following club season was completely different.  Something clicked and I improved my play but more importantly I fell in love with playing volleyball.  That summer I decided to try beach volleyball and tried out and made the Stars and Stripes team.   Playing beach was a great experience and helped me become a better player.  This set me up nicely to be prepared for the High School tryouts.  I tried out and was asked to be a part of the  varsity team. I was  1 out of  only 2 freshman to be asked to play on the varsity team.  This proved to me that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.   That’s when I realized I wanted to play at a higher level and that playing in college is a goal that I can achieve.